Symphony X + Myrath + Melted Space @ The Robin, Bilston, 12th February 2016
Arriving early at The Robin 2 earlier than expected for day one of the Symphony X European tour ensuring I got a good spot I find things are delayed and we have to wait almost an hour before being let in; not the best of starts. We were so late that openers Melted Space were still sound checking as we entered; a poor show considering the delay but thankfully this was a fairly short sound check and then straight into their main set.
With the band being new to many there was little feedback or interaction with the audience and it was clear they were not impressed, not helped by the pressure being on and the inevitable sound issues. There were some enjoyable tunes and the female backing singer added a nice touch. she later took over the lead, She countered the crazy demon vocals to the left which restored some balance to the sound. I was not quite sure what to make of “the demon voice”, at times it made me think of Rammstein. Overall, I actually liked some of the tunes, despite the problems.
Next up were Myrath. Having released many albums means they usually have a huge selection of tracks to choose from but tonight we see many of the tracks from their new album Legacy. Opening,lead singer Zaher Zorgati bounced in smiling and proceeds to brave us with new tracks Storm of Lies and Get Your Freedom Back. At last the crowd seemed to be fully enjoying themselves and I was pleasantly surprised by the power of the sounds Myrath produced.
Zorgati spoke to the crowd making himself popular: “We are very happy to be here for the first time in Great Britain” and “All of you thank you for coming” The forged on also having moments of dodgy sound and feedback although not as obvious, or often as Melted Space. Someone else to take notice of was the incredible 6 string bassist Anis Jouini; skillful and captivating in equal measure.
Main act Symphony X gave themselves a short set-up time and boom! they were into a crushing performance of Nevermore, the crowd singing along immediately, heads and hair swirling. Next was a much darker track, the album’s title song Underworld which just about hit my limit on how heavy it was, though the crowd obviously loved it. Less frenetic was the moderately paced Without You. This was probably my favourite track it’s such a great tune and shows off lead singer Russell Allen’s vocal skills.
The set list progressed with To Hell And Back, not one of their strongest although guitarist Romeo excelled himself here with great guitar skills and odd emotive face pulling. Closing the set we had Death of Balance and Sea of Lies from their earlier albums V: The New Mythology Suite and The Divine Wings of Tragedy both great tunes though not gig finishers. They leave the stage and crowd cheering “We want more, we want more” followed by “Odyssey, Odyssey”.
Allen came back to the stage ”what the f*ck man, more MORE!, are you sure man? I don’t give a f*ck we just went through 5 countries in one day to get our asses here, you know that right <crowd cheers and applaud> we’re gonna stick around and do a couple more songs, <crowd cheer again>.
For the encore we had Set the world on fire followed by another “Thank you, Shall we do some more?” before ending with new song , Legend.
These guys have the looks, the style and the sounds. A 100% great performance was everything I like about metal, being a new metal head as I’m being dubbed by a few I know, and a very good end to the night.
Set lists
Symphony X:
Nevermore
Underworld
Kiss of Fire
Without You
Charon
To Hell and Back
In My Darkest Hour
Run with the Devil
Swan Song
Out of the Ashes
Death of Balance
Sea of lies
Set the World on Fire (The Lie of Lies)
Legend
Myrath:
Storm of Lies
Get your freedom back
Believer
Wide Shut
Words and photographs: Chris Bowley